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VOL. 145
NO. 3 8 Pages
Wednesday, January 15, 2025
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon
Heppner answers call
for California fires
BOC votes 2-1 to move circuit court
building back to Heppner
A tactical tender pulls away from the Heppner Fire Department
last week. Heppner Fire received a call for the tender to go
down to California and help with the fires raging in the south.
HFD Lt. Stacy Lauritsen and Lt. Katilyn Zinter were headed
to Boardman to meet up with another truck before heading to
California together. -Contributed photo
Clockwise from top left: County Commissioner Gus Peterson, County Commissioner Jeff Wenholz, County Administrator,
Matt Jensen and County Commissioner David Sykes. – Contributed Photo
By Andrea Di Salvo
In a split vote last week,
the Morrow County Board
of Commissioners voted to
repeal the decision to place
the county’s new circuit
court annex in Boardman.
The planned courthouse
will again be sited at the
original Heppner site near
the county fairgrounds.
After more than a year
of time, money and conten-
tion about building sites in
the south end of the county,
the BOC voted in Novem-
ber to site the county’s
new circuit court build-
ing—which the county then
referred to as a circuit court
“annex”—in Boardman.
That decision was made in
a 2-1 vote, with BOC Chair
David Sykes dissenting.
That all changed Jan. 8.
New commissioner Gus
Peterson of Ione fueled the
reversal by requesting that
the circuit court’s location
be put on the agenda for his
first meeting as a Morrow
County Commissioner.
Peterson said he ap-
preciated all the public
comment and those who
had reached out to him on
the topic already.
“Since the announce-
ment of an additional court-
house space, this project
has been plagued with
twists and turns and we
have arrived at a juncture
where I am afraid there is
no decision that we can
make that will not result
in unhappiness from some
folks,” said Peterson.
While the move back to
Heppner was met with op-
position, Peterson seemed
prepared to take the heat
for his actions. He said that
he would not blame anyone
who was upset with deci-
sions he made as a commis-
sioner and that he believed
a reasonable case could be
made for either location.
“That said, Heppner is
the county seat,” Peterson
said. “The impact will be
greater for the City of Hep-
pner than it would be for
anywhere else.”
He said the City of
Heppner had made it clear
how much the project meant
to the community.
Despite vocal opposi-
tion from some quarters,
the Heppner City Council
stated from the beginning
that it supported locating
the new circuit court build-
ing in the city.
Many citizens who
spoke against the fair-
grounds site apparently
changed their minds when
Boardman was selected,
going so far as to circulate
a petition asking the BOC to
reverse the decision to site
the building in Boardman.
“If we are going to be
good partners with all of our
communities, then that is
something that I think that
we really need to value,”
said Peterson.
He also said that, while
he saw that the law could be
interpreted differently, he
thought it clearly indicated
that the court should remain
in Heppner.
The sixth judicial dis-
trict includes Morrow and
Umatilla counties. The
statute in question states
that “the judges of the dis-
trict shall hold court in
Pendleton, Hermiston, Mil-
ton-Freewater and Heppner
as required by caseload.”
“I’m not willing to
gamble a 30 million-plus
project on that understand-
ing being wrong or subject
to interpretation that may
change at a future point in
time,” he said.
He was backed by BOC
Chair David Sykes. Part
of Sykes’s platform in his
own run for commission-
er had been to make sure
Heppner retains an active
circuit court.
“I’ve been consistent
on this from the beginning
when I took office, prior to
when I took office,” said
Sykes. “I promised every-
thing I could do. My feeling
hasn’t changed.”
Judge Daniel Hill, pre-
siding judge for the sixth
judicial district, was clearly
unhappy with the move.
He began by saying that
the statute Peterson cited
was an “anomaly” created
to establish a Milton-Free-
water location, but that the
principal statute gave the
chief justice the power to
designate the courthouse’s
location.
“The chief justice is
the head of the judicial
branch and pretty much
what she says goes,” said
Hill, adding that moving
the courthouse from Hep-
pner posed, “Zero risk. One
hundred percent zero risk. A
thousand percent zero risk.”
He also pointed to op-
position against the fair-
grounds site, saying not
one supporter came forward
until after it was determined
the Kinzua Mill site was
unsuitable.
He said moving the
courthouse to Boardman
was a compromise that
gave better court access
to both ends of the county,
especially since more than
-Continued to PAGE SIX
Kotek declares state of emergency in Morrow
and Umatilla counties
Emergency order allows for limited wastewater application in LUBGWMA
Oregon Governor Tina Kotek - Contributed Photo
Salem, OR—Monday,
Oregon Governor Tina
Kotek declared a state of
emergency due to the risk
of economic shutdown im-
pacting Morrow and Uma-
tilla counties.
The emergency decla-
ration makes an exception
to the Port of Morrow’s
current wastewater per-
mit with the Department
of Environmental Quality
(DEQ), authorizing the
Port to apply wastewater if
necessary to fields within
the Lower Umatilla Basin
Groundwater Management
Area (LUBGWMA) that
are either down gradient
from any domestic wells
or designated as “low-risk.”
The declaration only
allows this from Jan. 15
through Feb. 28, which
marks the end of the agri-
cultural winter “non-grow-
ing season” when irrigation
is not undertaken to grow
agricultural crops.
“Morrow and Umatilla
counties are key to our
state’s agricultural produc-
tion—directly and indirect-
ly employing thousands of
Oregonians, and feeding
not just Oregonians, but
families across the globe,”
Governor Kotek stated in a
press release.
Kotek said her office
has heard from producers
and farmers in the LUB-
GWMA who have said that
pausing operations even for
a short time would be “dev-
astating” to the local econ-
omy. Many fear it could
shut down some operations
permanently.
“This would result in
lost jobs for community
members across the region.
-Continued to PAGE SIX
Good Shepherd’s first
baby of the new year
born to Ione family
Good Shepherd’s first baby of 2025 was born to Jalene Cla-
baugh and Dakota Warren of Ione on Jan. 1. -Contributed
photo
HERMISTON, OR—
Good Shepherd Health
Care System (GSHCS)
announced it welcomed the
area’s first baby of the new
year, born to parents Jalene
Clabaugh and Dakota War-
ren of Ione.
Waylon Warren was
born on Jan. 1, 2025, at 8:15
p.m., weighing 6 pounds
and 10.8 ounces. He was
19.5 inches long
Waylon was born in
the care of OB/GYN Gary
Trupp, MD, and the nursing
team at Good Shepherd’s
Family Birth Center (FBC).
When asked what’s
most exciting about hav-
ing the first baby of 2025
born at GSHCS, Clabaugh
shared, “It’s crazy. It sets
forth a good year—new
year, new baby!”
Clabaugh added that
she is part of a group of
three friends that are all
expecting babies around the
same time.
The couple said that
baby Waylon’s first day was
very calm while he seemed
to be taking everything in.
“One of our favorite
moments so far was when
Waylon sneezed for the first
time; it was really cute!”
said Clabaugh.
With the new year
came many good wishes
shared with the couple.
“This is our first baby
and the first grandbaby in
our family. We are all very
excited! Our New Year’s
wish for Waylon is good
health,” said Clabaugh.
Each year this special
New Year’s baby is wel-
comed with much antici-
pation, admits FBC Interim
Nurse Manager Cherie Wil-
son, RNC.
“It is truly a special
occasion for our physicians
and staff each year,” said
Wilson.
She said the family
received a special gift from
FBC, a wagon full of dia-
pers, wipes, books, clothes,
swaddle blankets, soap,
lotion, a robe and Nivea
skin care set for Mother, a
safety kit, a ‘Baby’s First
Yearbook,’ and a blanket
handmade and gifted by
the Coffee Creek Women’s
Correction Facility.
“I sincerely hope that
-Continued to PAGE THREE
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